Bayern in 'POLE POSITION' for Championship star and former Man Utd target

Stuart Telford

• 29 Aug 2023 14:39 BST
• 3 min read

Bayern Munich are favourites to sign former Manchester United target Armel Bella-Kotchap from Southampton ahead of Borussia Dortmund, according to Sky Germany.

Bella-Kotchap is in high demand after being relegated with Southampton last season.

The Germany international was in the 95th percentile Premier League-wide for interceptions and clearances despite the Saints' demotion, and he is unlikely to stick about in the English second tier for long.

READ: Five players who could leave Southampton including Man Utd and Liverpool targets

United had been credited with an interest in Bella-Kotchap before his €11 million move to St Mary's from Bochum last summer, but now Bayern have emerged as his most likely next destination.

"Bayern are still in the race for Armel Bella-Kotchap as revealed," Sky Germany's Florian Plettenberg posted on Twitter. "At this stage it's a decision between [Trevoh] Chalobah and Bella-Kotchap.

Bayern favourites

"Bayern in talks and negotiations with Southampton today about a loan. Borussia Dortmund are also pushing for the 21-year-old and have increased their offer, a loan with an obligation to buy.

"Bayern are in pole position."

READ: Leeds and Southampton dominate as the Championship’s 15 €20m stars revealed

Southampton have already sold more than £150m-worth of players this summer, with Romeo Lavia, Tino Livramento and James Ward-Prowse fetching the most money in joining Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham respectively.

Bella-Kotchap is currently valued at €20m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, with an ETV of €23.1m, which is likely to be the fee Dortmund have offered to pay by the end of the campaign.

Bayern are in the market for another centre-back with Benjamin Pavard set to complete a €32m transfer to Inter Milan in the coming days.

The Bavarians have already burned up much of their transfer budget this summer in paying Tottenham Hotspur €100m for England captain Harry Kane and Napoli €50m for South Korea centre-back Kim Min-jae, hence their offer being loan only for the moment.